Posts tagged the massive

This is going to be a double review of volumes 2 and 3 of The Massive. I know it’s a lot of material to go through but I have faith in you, gentle reader.

It is rare that a series full of unfamiliar characters grips me so quickly as The Massive Vol.1 did, but from the first page I was hooked. That is why I am a little disappointed in myself for waiting so long to read the next chapters in the series. It was definitely worth it though, because what promised to be a very rewarding continuing story has proven to be just that. This second volume doesn’t catch the reader as quickly as the first volume did, but it does pick up fairly quickly. What I found intriguing was an early sequence where one of the main characters has clearly lost his trust in people “post-crash”. It held a striking resemblance for me to The Walking Dead, and how many people in that universe have found themselves being less trusting since the apocalypse. That’s not to say it felt like a rip-off of a popular series. I just find it interesting in general seeing how characters react in stories such as this where the world is different than we know it today.

Something that The Walking Dead and other stories like it have taught us is that you have to be careful about who you trust. So while you are obviously excited about finding other seemingly good-natured humans post-crash, you should still exercise caution. That is why it should come as no surprise to anyone that Moksha Station, the supposed haven our crew finds in the middle of the ocean, isn’t everything it seems. Was Callum Israel right to initially have doubts about their possible new allies? That is what we explore in the first half of Vol 2. The second half is more of them chasing the fleeting signs of their sister ship The Massive in the hopes of finally recovering this lost vessel. It’s a gripping tale that you won’t want to miss.

Vol 3 of the series continues the adventure with the search for the crewman that stole a nuclear sub in the previous volume. They track him down to Manhattan but come across other obstacles in the process. Oh, and of course we get more flashbacks in between the current ongoing action. This volume I definitely liked the first half better than the second. Not to say the second part wasn’t good, but the action slows down a bit and deviates from the main storyline for a side quest. I guess we needed it after how tense the first couple volumes have been but it still leaves you wanting more meat. Not whale meat though because people who kill whales for their meat are what Ninth Wave are trying to fight.

Overall I would say definitely grab Vol 2 if you haven’t already (it was released in December) and then stay current with Vol 3 (which was released last month). There’s definitely a fourth volume in the works but it won’t be available for public consumption until January of next year. That just means you have plenty of time to play catch-up though. Enjoy!

“The Massive gives us a different, and essentially unique, take on the story of the end of the world. It doesn’t revel in destruction; when scenes describing the planetary crisis show up, they make clear that this was a true disaster, not a disaster movie. Millions have died, in dirty, tragic, and decidedly noncinematic ways. Instead, The Massive is a story of the necessity of resilience. While it leads us through the catastrophic aftermath of the Crash, we soon see that survival here is not the purpose in and of itself—it’s survival with the hope of making things better, even while recognizing that the old world’s legacies (in materials and ideolo-gies) yet remain.”

This introduction to Volume 1 of “The Massive,” mirrors the thoughts I shared in my review of Issue #1 back in June (although decidedly with a gift for language I can only hope to one day touch). The only thing I added was how fantastic the artwork was. The superb attention to detail in both art and story continue with the rest of this first collection.

One thing I loved about the first issue of “The Massive” was how the action starts immediately and the reader is thrown into a world where it doesn’t know the rules, but quickly learns. Never confusing, always intriguing, “The Massive” does a fantastic job of taking the reader on a journey through a post-apocalyptic world where two sister ships must find their way back together while also discovering the cause of the event known to us as “The Crash”. The story gets richer with each page, making the reader dive into a world that’s falling apart, bit by bit. As we learn about this world and the destruction it has already seen, we also slowly get to know the cast of characters and how they ended up in the situations we see them face from the beginning of our story. The transition back and forth from past to present keeps the story moving in ways much more interesting than if the author had simply said “this is what has happened, now to continue…” It not only helps with the steady flow of the story, it also engages the reader better than a straight timeline would.

“The Massive: Vol 1” is a brilliant collection of stories that introduces you to a world of chaos and disorder. It gives you plenty to drag you into this world, while still leaving you wanting more. Just a little more…

The Massive: Volume 1 is available now, so go ask about it at your local comic shop. Volume 2 will be available Dec 2013, and Volume 3 June 2014. Keep with it, because from what I’ve seen so far it promises to be a continuously good read.

The Massive #1 introduces us to a “post-war, post-crash, post-disaster, post-everything world;” where the Kapital and its crew members look for answers to the cause of “the Crash” while also hunting for their lost sister ship, the Massive. This world is brought to you by Dark Horse Comics and writer Brian Wood. The story is intense right from the word “GO,” which keeps the reader constantly interested in what will happen next to the cast of characters. That combined with the stunning artwork and colors, brought to you by Kristian Donaldson and Dave Stewart respectively, and you have plenty to stimulate your mind and keep you entertained. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about the actual plot because I don’t want to include spoilers here, but I will tell you that it is definitely worth it to give Massive a chance at being included in your comic subscriptions list. You can pick a copy up from your local comic shop on June 13th.